Patriots trade Joe Milton to Cowboys in reported pick swap

Joe Milton III's impressive performance against the Buffalo Bills in Week 18 was his last game with the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are trading Milton and a seventh-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth-round pick, our Patriots Insider Phil Perry has confirmed. ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the deal.

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New England announced Milton's trade to Dallas on Thursday afternoon but didn't reveal details of the deal. According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, the Patriots are acquiring Dallas' compensatory fifth-round pick (171st overall) and sending out their seventh-round pick that originally belonged to Tennessee (217th overall).

Milton, a sixth-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft (No. 193 overall), was never going to overtake No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye to be the starting quarterback. Still, the Tennessee product flashed tantalizing upside when he took the field last summer, throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass in New England's preseason opener.

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Milton's stock rose even further in the Patriots' regular-season finale against the Bills, when he completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing TD to lead New England to a surprising upset.

The Patriots already have their franchise QB in Maye, however, and signed veteran Josh Dobbs this offseason. So, perhaps their intention was to sell high on Milton while they still could. And based on conversations NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry had with NFL executives earlier this offseason, a fifth-rounder isn't a bad return for the second-string QB.

"Never say never," one AFC executive told Perry about the possibility of the Patriots landing a mid-round selection for Milton. "But if he's a seventh-round pick, I'm not sure one game elevates him to being worth a fourth or fifth-round pick a year later."

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Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz reports the Patriots actually had a "better offer" for Milton -- with the Raiders, Eagles, Giants and Steelers also showing interest in the QB -- but chose to "send him where he wanted out of respect" for Milton.

Here is Perry's breakdown of the value New England received in the Milton trade: